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October 31, 2013

Cats With Bladder Issues Not To Blame For Dell Laptop Odor

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redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online

After months of receiving complaints that its new Latitude E6430u laptop reeked of cat urine, Dell has finally addressed the issue, chalking it up to a “manufacturing fault” and assuring customers that the computers have not actually been defiled by rogue felines.

The first complaint, posted on Dell user forums back in June, was submitted by a user identified as “three west” who asserted that the laptop “smells as if it was assembled near a tomcats litter box.” The post also said that the source of the odor appeared to be emanating from the keyboard and asked for tips on removing it.

Upon first hearing reports of the smell, members of Dell tech support “initially suggesting cleaning the keyboard with a soft cloth and using a can of compressed air to blow out the laptop vents,” according to Amanda Kooser of CNET. “But that only served to blow the stench around, according to a number of Latitude 6430u owners.”

After months of replacing odoriferous laptop computers and investigating the issue, Dell officials released a statement Wednesday citing that the smell was the result of an unspecified “manufacturing process” which has since “been changed,” and is in no way the result of urine or any other type of “biological contamination,” said Engadget’s Marc Perton.

Furthermore, a Dell spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the laptops, which run on the Windows 8 Pro operating system and feature an Intel Core i5 processor, do not constitute a health hazard. However, the company is encouraging customers to send in affected computers for a free-of-charge keyboard and palm rest replacement.

Any customer who currently has a laptop that smells as if a kitten has relieved itself upon it can contact Dell’s technical support team by phone at 1-800-456-3355. Alternatively, users can find a clothespin for their noses, fire up their laptops, and visit the company’s support website to make arrangements for the keyboard and palm-rest replacement, Dell’s Kevin Dane wrote in a blog entry.